The My Little Pony brand describes its characters as ponies. The brand's toys, as the name suggests, usually consist of small colorful plastic ponies. The characters on the various My Little Pony television shows and movies are depicted with varying degrees of fantasy elements, like the ability to speak, fly, and use magic.

Earth ponies

Earth ponies have no wings or unicorn horn, and therefore most closely resemble real ponies. They are the kind first introduced by the My Little Pony brand. The chapter bookTwilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell mentions that one special trait is "the strength of a good, true heart of an Earth Pony." The main cast of the show My Little Pony Friendship is Magic features two Earth ponies: Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

Unicorns

Unicorns are characterized by a magical horn on their foreheads, and they usually have magical abilities. The show's main cast initially features two unicorns: Rarity and Twilight Sparkle, but Twilight gains wings in the season 3 finale Magical Mystery Cure.

Other types of ponies

Alicorns

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are referred to as unicorns in the episode Friendship is Magic, part 1, and Princess Cadance is called a unicorn in the episode A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1, all despite having both a unicorn horn and wings. They are called "Pony Princesses" in Hasbro's merchandise. Meghan McCarthy stated at the October 2012 New York Comic Con, between the airing of seasons two and three, that she had used the term "pegacorn" in the show's scripts, and mentioned switching to the term "alicorn".[1] In the season three episode Magical Mystery Cure, Twilight Sparkle is described as an alicorn once she gains wings. Rarity, on the other hand, gained butterfly-like wings in the episode Sonic Rainboom without being called an alicorn. In the chapter bookTwilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell, it is written that Twilight, and by extension at least also Cadance became "part of a special breed of pony called an Alicorn. This meant that Twilight was now able to harness the magical powers of the unicorns, the flight abilities of the Pegasi, and the strength of a good, true heart of an Earth Pony."

A sign mentioning the Umbrum appears on page 6 of My Little Pony: The Movie Prequel Issue #4. Cute Umbrum and True Umbrum are characters in Gameloft's mobile game. Cute Umbrum's in-game description states, "This Umbrum disguised itself so that ponies would be more likely to trust it! What does it really look like? let's agree to never think about that!!!"

Seaponies and mermares

Seaponies, named very similarly to G1 Sea Ponies, first appear in the storybookUnder the Sparkling Sea, where the main characters go to the underwater kingdom of Aquastria. They resemble sea horses, and are referred to as "cousins" of the earth-based ponies. Mermares, named somewhat similarly to G3.5 Mermaid Ponies and to G1 Fancy Mermaid Ponies, first appear in the same book and have fish fins, tail, and scales, and they are presented as the seaponies' competitor in the kingdom of Aquastria. Mermares are described as more introvert, bigger, and faster than seaponies. Neither kind of submarine ponies bear a cutie mark. Coral and Arrow are seaponies; Electra is a mermare.

Kirin

Kirin[note 1] are a type of pony first mentioned on an expanded map of Equestria in a location called Kirin Grove. They are formally introduced in the season eight episode Sounds of Silence. Kirin are described as a peaceful tribe "known for their kindness and truth-speaking". But when they lose their temper, they transform into beasts of fire and rage called Nirik—"Kirin" spelled backwards, pluralized as "Nirik" or "Niriks". After their tempers resulted in the accidental destruction of their home, the Kirin leader Rain Shine forced them to step through the Stream of Silence and suppress their voices and emotions so that it doesn't happen again. Included among the Kirin is Autumn Blaze, the first Kirin to free herself from the Stream of Silence's effects.

Compared to normal ponies, Kirin have bushier manes that wrap around their heads, slightly longer ears, curved/branching horns, scaly carapaces on their muzzles and backs, thin tails, and tufted, cloven hooves. They have a large culture, with lots of singing, dancing, musical theatre and stand-up jokes.

Prior to the map of Equestria's inclusion of Kirin Grove, a hypothetical Qilin encounter was addressed in a December 29, 2016 Twitter conversation with Jim Miller.[2]

Changelings

Horses

Breezies

The Breezies are tiny, magical fairy-like creatures that have distinct pony attributes and body shapes, whilst also having large, clear wings and antennae. In the third generation of the My Little Pony toy line, Breezies were originally considered an official pony type, as previous generation Breezies had cutie marks, whilst in contrast the fourth generation Breezies are completely blank-flanked.

Horse-like stylization

The show's developer, Lauren Faust, wanted the ponies to act in ways characteristic of horses and avoid human conventions that wouldn't fit with their stylization, like human poses, holding items in their hooves, sitting in chairs, and driving vehicles such as cars and trains.atural horse".[3] Faust wanted the characters to "evoke the feeling of a natural horse".[4] Faust specifies a few attributes in one of her interviews:[5] the back of the ponies' heads streamlines down their neck and to their back; the manes fall to one side of the neck like a real horse; and they have authentic horse trots and gallops. Despite this, season two and onwards saw the show incorporate more human-like stylization as new artists joined the show.[6]

Hoof-bump

Hoof-bump!

A hoof-bump, also known as high-hoof or brohoof,[7] imitates either a handshake, high-five, or even a fist bump. Ponies bump their hooves in several instances in the series:

Look Before You Sleep: Rarity declines a hoof-bump by Applejack since she spit on her own hoof before offering it. Later, the two of them do a hoof-bump after Twilight declares her slumber party a success.

Fall Weather Friends: Applejack and Rainbow Dash do a spit-soaked hoof-bump before competing against each other before the Iron Pony competition and before the Running of the Leaves.

They also perform this action, albeit in a tired fashion, in One Bad Apple, again with Babs Seed towards the end of the same episode, and yet again with Gabby at the end of The Fault in Our Cutie Marks.

On Your Marks: Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo perform a hoof-bump while Scootaloo assures Apple Bloom that they will solve problems getting cutie marks in Ponyville.

Hoof-shake

Twilight shaking "Sir Pony Moore"'s hoof.

A hoof-shake is a friendly form of greeting or acknowledgement between ponies, akin to a handshake. Ponies and other non-pony characters in the series use a hoof-shake to greet each other in numerous instances in the series:

Hair

Applejack lassoing with her tail.

Ponies use their manes and tails to pick up, hold, and manipulate objects or perform various activities, most commonly Pinkie Pie. In Boast Busters, Applejack uses her tail to wield a lasso. In Party of One, Rarity uses her tail to carry a cake box. In The Cutie Pox, Apple Bloom uses her tail to spin a loopty-hoop, and Zecora uses hers to hold up the Seeds of Truth. In Power Ponies, the Mane-iac uses her mane and tail to walk around and hold various objects. Pinkie Pie holds a flashlight with her mane in Bats!, a camera with her tail in Pinkie Apple Pie, and a flyer with her tail in Three's A Crowd. In Rainbow Falls, Applejack uses her tail to fling an Apple Brown Betty into the air. In Buckball Season, Fluttershy uses her tail to catch and fling the ball in the sport of buckball.